Section 2 of Postal Rule I is hereby amended by inserting after the word "thereto" in line 6 the following: And whenever, by order of the postmaster-General, any post-office shall be consolidated with and made part of another post-office where free delivery is established, all the employees of the office thus consolidated whose names appear on the roster of said office approved by the Post-Office Department, and including the postmaster thereof, shall from the date of said order be employees of said free-delivery office, and the person holding on the date of said order the position of postmaster at the office thus consolidated with said free-delivery office may be assigned to any position therein and given any appropriate designation under the classification act which the Postmaster-General may direct. The section as amended shall read as follows: 2. The classification of the postal service made by the Postmaster-General under section 6 of the act of January 16, 1883, is hereby extended to all free-delivery post-offices, and hereafter whenever any post-office becomes a free-delivery office the said classification or any then existing classification made by the Postmaster-General under said section and act shall apply thereto; and whenever, by order of the Post-master-General, any post-office shall be consolidated with and made part of another post-office where free delivery is established, all the employees of the office thus consolidated whose names appear on the roster of said office approved by the Post-Office Department, and including the postmaster thereof, shall from the date of said order be employees of said free-delivery office, and the person holding on the date of said order the position of postmaster at the office thus consolidated with said free-delivery office may be assigned to any position therein and given any appropriate designation under the classification act which the Postmaster-General may direct; and the Civil Service Commission shall provide examinations to test the fitness of persons to fill vacancies in all free-delivery post-offices, and these rules shall be in force therein; but this shall not include any post-office made an experimental free-delivery office under the authority contained in the appropriation act of March 3, 1891. Every revision of the classification of any post-office under section 6 of the act of January 16, 1883, and every inclusion of a post-office within the classified postal service shall be reported to the President. Approved: GROVER CLEVELAND.
Presidential Order
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §3: Administrative Management & Civil Service
Executive Order—Amendment of Civil Service Rules
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 2 min read (392 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
Of Postal Rule I is hereby amended by inserting after the word "thereto" in line 6 the following: And whenever, by order of the postmaster-General, any post-office shall be consolidated with and made part of another post-office where free delivery is established, all the employees of the office thus consolidated whose names appear on the roster of said office approved by the Post-Office Department, and including the postmaster thereof, shall from the date of said order be employees of said free-delivery office, and the person holding on the date of said order the position of postmaster at the office thus consolidated with said free-delivery office may be assigned to any position therein and given any appropriate designation under the…
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §3: Administrative Management & Civil Service
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis
Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.
Signed by President Grover Cleveland on November 6, 1895, this order concerns Amendment of Civil Service Rules. Section 2 of Postal Rule I is hereby amended by inserting after the word "thereto" in line 6 the following: And whenever, by order of the postmaster-General, any post-office shall be consolidated with and made part of another post-office where free delivery is established, all the employees of the office thus consolidated whose names appear on the roster of said office approved by the Post-Office Department, and…
Constitutional Assessment: This action represents an orderly exercise of Article II administrative discretion, managing the internal machinery and personnel of the executive branch without abridging the ancient liberties of the people.
Key Directives & Operative Actions
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Of Postal Rule I is hereby amended by inserting after the word "thereto" in line 6 the following: And whenever, by order of the postmaster-General, any post-office shall be consolidated with and made part of another post-office where free delivery is established, all the employees of the office thus consolidated whose names appear on the roster of said office approved by the Post-Office Department, and including the postmaster thereof, shall from the date of said order be employees of said free-delivery office, and the person holding on the date of said order the position of postmaster at the office thus consolidated with said free-delivery office may be assigned to any position therein and given any appropriate designation under the…
▪
The section as amended shall read as follows: 2.
▪
The classification of the postal service made by the Postmaster-General under section 6 of the act of January 16, 1883, is hereby extended to all free-delivery post-offices, and hereafter whenever any post-office becomes a free-delivery office the said classification or any then existing classification made by the Postmaster-General under said section and act shall apply thereto; and whenever, by order of the Post-master-General, any post-office shall be consolidated with and made part of another post-office where free delivery is established, all the employees of the office thus consolidated whose names appear on the roster of said office approved by the Post-Office Department, and including the postmaster thereof, shall from the date of…
▪
Every revision of the classification of any post-office under section 6 of the act of January 16, 1883, and every inclusion of a post-office within the classified postal service shall be reported to the President.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
Policy Areas & Topics
🏛️
The Framers' Constitutional Council
1787 PrismEvaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight)
§
"When the President acts in absence of either a congressional grant or denial of authority, he can only rely upon his own independent powers, but there is a zone of twilight in which he and Congress may have concurrent authority."
— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
JM
James Madison
Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy
"Power is of an encroaching nature, and it ought to be effectually restrained from passing the limits assigned to it." — Federalist No. 48 (1788)
Madison would view this order with watchful scrutiny. Operating in the 'Zone of Twilight' where Congress is silent, each such directive establishes an administrative precedent that steadily expands the executive perimeter at the expense of legislative primacy.
Madisonian Stance: Vigilant / Cautionary
AH
Alexander Hamilton
The Energetic Executive & Unified Command
"A feeble Executive implies a feeble execution of the government; and a government ill executed, whatever it may be in theory, must be, in practice, a bad government." — Federalist No. 70 (1788)
Hamilton would view this directive as the natural and indispensable functioning of administrative leadership. Without the power to coordinate agencies, manage personnel, and resolve operational ambiguities, the modern presidency would be reduced to an impotent figurehead.
Hamiltonian Stance: Defends Vigor & Dispatch
GM
George Mason
Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment
"The president will be surrounded by flatterers and sycophants... and the great powers of the executive will gradually absorb the liberties of the people." — Cato IV (Anti-Federalist, 1787)
The Anti-Federalist prism advises continuous democratic vigilance. Even routine administrative directives aggregate centralized federal power away from town halls and state assemblies toward a distant executive apparatus.
Anti-Federalist Stance: Eternal Vigilance Required
📐
Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions
An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.
⚖️ Discretionary Twilight Zone
38 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8
Moderate Friction
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
Administers commerce or fiscal programs requiring ongoing statutory delegation and legislative oversight.
Benchmark: Power of the purse, taxes/tariffs, and rule of law reserved to Congress.
Dimension 2 • Art. II, §1 & §3
Moderate Friction
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Directs internal executive branch machinery, agency workflows, and federal personnel.
Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.
Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment
Low Friction
Federalism & State Sovereignty
Confined strictly to internal federal jurisdiction, federal property, or direct military command.
Benchmark: Police powers and un-delegated responsibilities reserved to the States.
Dimension 4 • 5th & 14th Amendments
Low Friction
Due Process & Individual Rights
Focuses on internal governmental operations with no direct impairment of private rights or property.
Benchmark: Protection of private property, contracts, liberty, and procedural justice.
Dimension 5 • Separation of Powers
Moderate Friction
Youngstown Jacksonian Tier
The order relies on inherent Article II executive discretion, civil service management, or foreign diplomacy where Congress has neither expressly approved nor prohibited action.
Benchmark: Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
⚖️
Audit Synthesis
This order operates within Justice Jackson’s Zone of Twilight, resting upon concurrent presidential authority or congressional silence.
Weighted composite: Art. I (25%), Art. II (25%), Federalism (15%), Due Process (15%), Youngstown (20%).
ℹ️
How to read these dimensions: Executive power expands whenever an administration acts without explicit statutory authorization from Congress (Article I), touches upon police powers historically reserved to the states (Tenth Amendment), or limits private rights and property without judicial process. A low friction score indicates strict concordance with enacted law; a high friction score highlights orders testing the limits of presidential discretion.
Total Words
392
2,539 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
36
Post-Graduate Legal
Text size:
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⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
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📜 Art. II §3: Administrative Management & Civil Service
So much of Executive orders heretofore issued under General Rule III, section 2, clause (c), as provides for the appointment of special agents in the Department of Labor by noncompetitive examination is hereby revoked. Approved: GROVER CLEVELAND.
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Special Departmental Rule No. 1, clause 8, is hereby amended by striking from the list of places excepted from examination in the Department of Labor statistical experts and temporary experts. Approved: GROVER CLEVELAND.
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Lieutenant-General John M. Schofield having reached the age entitling him to relief from active military service, he is, in accordance with the provisions of law, hereby placed upon the retired list of the Army, to date September 29, 1895, with all the pay and allowances…
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🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
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📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
Special Departmental Rule I is hereby amended to except from examination in the Department of the Treasury, in the Bureau of Printing and Engraving, forty-three compositors and eight pressmen now temporarily employed under authority of the sundry civil act of March 2, 1895…
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Sep 5, 1895
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order—Amendment of Civil Service Rules
📜 Art. II §3: Administrative Management & Civil Service
Special Departmental Rule I is hereby amended by striking out from the list of places excepted from examination in all the Departments "bookbinders." Approved: GROVER CLEVELAND.
Grover Cleveland High School • 1m
📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order, Amendment of Civil Service Rules (Nov. 6, 1895), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-amendment-civil-service-rules-16.
